


Various Original Works I Wanted To Store Somewhere

by Lightsandfire



Category: Original Work
Genre: Death, Future, Minor Character Death, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:33:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27876134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lightsandfire/pseuds/Lightsandfire
Summary: This work contains some original works I wrote that I want to store somewhere I can easily find them. This will be uploaded whenever I feel like writing and will mostly consist of one shots.Titles of the included works at this point:Cause of Death by a MachineLet me know if you need me to tag something.J
Kudos: 2





	Various Original Works I Wanted To Store Somewhere

**Author's Note:**

> Warning for: minor character death, non-graphic discussion of illness and dying, panic.

Moss had always known how he would die. Medicine had been perfected, all jobs had been automated, and the only thing humanity had to do was enjoy their long life. All dangerous things had been eliminated, the “Cause of Death” machines having been forgotten decades ago. There was no use getting tested, for the machines spilled out the same word for everyone, “AGE”. Their sole purpose now was collecting dust in their once lively buildings. 

Moss remembered his grandmother telling him about those times. People used to get different words from the machines, different ways to die. It used to control their lives, she said. When people got their word, they either went out of their way to avoid anything to do with it, or they went out of their way to find it and destroy it. And by doing that, they would manage to get themself killed by something that would convince their next of kin that the machines spoke the truth.

If Moss had lived in those times, he thought, he would never have gotten tested. He wouldn’t want to live his entire life in fear of that one word, only to be killed in a way he would never have expected. What if his word would have been “AIRPLANE” and he would never have flown in one, only to be taken out by a toy plane to the head? No, he decided, he would rather have remained clueless. Even now, he tended to stay away from “Cause of Death” related news, going as far as changing the channel when it came on the news.

That was the main reason why, when unusual things started to happen, he didn’t know the reason why, and wasn’t very concerned. 

He noticed that people in his neighbourhood were starting to do dangerous things, forbidden things, even. Not only were there even longer and louder parties, but he saw human driven cars on the roads. He heard about people going bungee jumping and diving, things that were deemed too dangerous a long time ago. He wondered why people were doing these things, didn’t they know it could shorten their lifespan? Moss shook his head, he supposed it wasn’t his business. He wasn’t interested in doing such things, being more than happy with his life the way it was. 

He didn’t notice that, only months after the last jobs were automated, people started dropping dead. There were no causes to be found: no missed health issues, no accidents. At first these cases were ignored, denied even. It must just have been an individual that had a shorter lifespan than their peers.   
But after the hundredth case in a week, the facts could no longer be put aside. 

Moss didn’t notice the machines getting busy again, and not only with government workers who were tasked with keeping the machines running, but with ordinary people, people who were suddenly starting to panic and do crazy and dangerous things. He only noticed when the news started talking about government mandated parties and the testing facilities opening for the public again. Not two days later, he got a letter from the government. 

“Please report yourself to the nearest Cause of Death Machine for testing…”

Suddenly a lot of things made sense; the hoarding of food and video games, the rising amount of parties and reckless actions he read about on the internet. Of course something would be wrong with those machines, causing people to panic, causing them wanting to get everyone tested. They were probably trying to blame the people taking the tests, instead of the scientists who made them. He took a deep breath and unfurled the letter so he could read the rest of the words.

“failure to show up within 7 days from this letter will result in…”

He sighed and shook his head. He never even thought there would be a need to get tested, and now he was forced to. To give his blood to a random machine, owned by the government, and to have his entire life derailed. Or at least, that’s what he imagined would happen.

...

When Moss arrived at the testing facility, he immediately noticed the chaos that was taking place. People were running around the place, comparing their words. Instead of the smiles he remembered his grandmother talking about, people wore looks of misery and despair on their faces. He frowned and quickly made his way towards what looked like a line for one of the machines. While slowly moving towards the front of the line, he heard snippets of conversations.

“-heard of Beth yet? They say she has it too-”

“-don’t get it, how could - the same word-”

“-those smartasses don’t know either - wrong with the machines-”

Moss got shaken out of his thoughts by the machine operator greeting him. Without saying a word he put his finger into the opening, knowing how this worked. You put your finger in the opening, a needle would take a drip of blood and 2 minutes later you would get your receipt. On that receipt was your word.   
Before Moss could grab the receipt himself, the operator took it and noted something on the clipboard he was holding. He murmured something that Moss couldn’t understand.

“I’m sorry, sir, what did you say? Could I get my receipt back?”

“Don’t worry about it, kid. It’s the same as everyone else here, it’s why the government wants everyone to get tested.” The operator still wasn’t looking at Moss, looking stressed at the information on his clipboard. 

“The same as everyone else? What do you mean?” 

“It means that since they started testing again after those mystery deaths, everyone has been getting the same word, well, a different one that it used to be. It has been all over the news lately. No one knows why…” The operator trailed off, putting Moss’ ticket in his hand before shooing him out of the line so the next person could get tested. Moss stumbled out of the way, walking back outside through the masses of people in a daze. He didn’t understand. People had been getting a different word, and the same one again at that? He sat down on a bench before remembering the receipt in his hand. Moss unfolded it, smoothing down the wrinkles before bringing himself to read it.

“BOREDOM”


End file.
